Ross McGowan signing off KTVU

Ross McGowan, one of the smoothest hosts on local TV, will sign off for good this morning on his show, KTVU’s “Mornings on 2.”

KTVU

Ross McGowan, signing off the air

McGowan has been with the show since 1993, but his local television career extends back 31 years. Among some viewers who watched in the 1980s, he is remembered as co-host of the popular afternoon talk show “People Are Talking” on KPIX with Ann Fraser.

His interviews are almost all live on “Mornings on 2,” and McGowan has a reputation as a calm and soothing presence despite the inevitable miscues and technical glitches of live TV. But he is no cream puff.

When O.J. Simpson prosecutor Marcia Clark came on to promote a television show, McGowan continued to ask pointed questions about the trial, even after Clark insisted that she was not going to discuss it. When the interview finished, Clark said into a live microphone, “That guy was an ass–.”

The comment wasn’t aired at the time, but Rosemarie Thomas Schwarz, then the show’s producer, made sure it was on the next morning’s broadcast.

“We made headlines from coast to coast with that,” Thomas Schwarz said.

McGowan will be best remembered for mastering the delicate art of making an interview seem like a conversation. He told me once that during a contract negotiation, his boss made what he considered a low offer. Since ratings were high, McGowan asked the reason.